Revitalizing the traditional shoe making community of Thakkar bappa settlement in Mumbai as an integrated micro economic centre

Abstract

Thakkar Bappa colony is an informal settlement located in Kurla, Mumbai. Unlike all other slums and despitev its common depiction as a "slum", it is a work-cum-residential settlement. The Regar and Meghwal Samaj migrants, have been living and working in this colony since the partition. They have been traditionally making footwear for wholesale uses, for the past 70 years. Initially these works were carried out in leather, but the artisans have over time shifted to Rexine. The settlement houses the dense living and working mochi community. Handmade footwear making is perceived more like a family legacy that is passed from one generation to the other. In the recent past, the business of these Mochis is failing to yield favourable outcomes, resulting in a degenerative flux due to which the male members of the community are forced to find other ways to earn their living. Chinese products have flooded the markets and the famous craft now has diminishing utility. Adding to these hardships, the community of mochis is exploited by the traders (as middlemen) and live under a constant debt cycle, unable to recover from; due to no other opportunity to showcase their skills. The exports of this settlement used to travel all the way till Nigeria, Kenya and Paris but is now in danger. Moreover, the narrow, congested lanes of the informal settlement occupied by tempos and lorries with open sewerage lines flowing on the roads have become a breeding ground. It faces frequent fires, cases of electrocution and damage during the monsoon. Considering the problems that the settlement faces, there was an urgent need to study and understand the settlement and propose design solution to solve problems that can be catered to architecturally. The colony calls for an understanding of the association between the craft of footwear making and their tangible-built environment, which is central to their efficient working and living environment and ultimately design for their welfare. The project is proposed under the Slum Rehabilitation Authority and is intended to be carried out by private developers. The idea is to rehabilitate the population of Thakkar Bappa Colony to a better housing alternative, keeping in sight the real estate significance of the property (land). Although the proposed project primarily looks forward to developing a housing cluster, I have envisioned the project to uplift the footwear makers through enhancement in the traditional occupation along with their living quarters keeping intact their social networks. The project strives at alleviating the problems of the living and working conditions of the informal housing cluster through the creation of an Integrated Micro Economic Centre, which will allow its residents to live as well as revive the traditional business of Shoe making. It focuses at empowering the economically marginalised mochis through innovation in working spaces. The thesis aims at preserving the originality of the space keeping its vibrancy intact, where the user and the work culture form the driving forces of reconfiguration. The project emphasizes on creating a ne economic model and investigate environmental resilience and social aspects of the community while addressing the site-specific issues of the project in the process.